She wouldn’t see me where I waited, but I ducked behind a tree anyway, scrubbing subconsciously at the scar on my chest. Where the hell was Tadhg and the human with the ring?
I waited another ten minutes before evanescing to the granary in Port Fear, where the portal had been since its creation centuries earlier. The porter there said no one had used the portal in weeks.
Tadhg was supposed to be here. It was Tuesday, wasn’t it? Between taking care of Tadhg’s duties while he was gone and working at the cottage, I’d lost all track of time.
At half past one, I’d had enough waiting around for my infernal brother and returned to the castle. It didn’t take much to convince Eava to find him. She never liked it when either of us were gone for too long, and Tadhg hadn’t spent the night here in what felt like ages.
It wasn’t that I missed his drunk arse, but the castle had felt especially empty as of late.
Just me, the bodies, and Eava.
Even Ruairi had been absent. Not that he had a reason to come by when Tadhg wasn’t here. But still. I scowled down at the map Eava had spread across the counter, the corners held in place with tins of flour and sugar.
Next to me, Eava stared into a bowl of water, her black eyes glazed white as she searched the island for my missing brother. I knew better than to interrupt, but she was taking ages, and I was starving.
I was about to grab one of the sour green apples from a basket when Eava’s hand shot out, her nail pointing to a spot on the map along a small river.
She blinked down at the spot, her eyes slowly returning to their inky hue. “Here.”
“You’re sure?” What was he doing there when he was supposed to be in Port Fear?
“He’s either there or just past.”
A start, at least.
She shifted the basket of apples, sending them who-knows-where. “When ye see him, tell him he gets nothin’ until he comes home.”
“Does that mean I’m not to eat as well?”
She gave my cheek a pat and said, “Bring yer brother home and I’ll make ye something special.”
Feckin’ Tadhg. Once again, his shite was getting in my way.
By the time I made it to the river, night was fast closing in. Dark clouds above warned of impending rain. No birds chirped, no squirrels scurried, likely already bedded down in anticipation of the brewing storm.
Upstream, I heard a splash and a familiar curse and found my brother having a feckin’ swim, as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
“What the hell is your problem?” I ground out.
Tadhg slipped, his arms cartwheeling, but there was nothing to save him from disappearing under the murky water. Well, I could’ve saved him using magic, but I’d wasted enough on him today. He came up cursing and scrubbing a hand down his face. Water continued to drip from the sopping brown hair plastered to his forehead. “Feckin’ hell, Rían. How’d you find me?”
“How do you think?”
He seemed to consider that for a moment before smiling and shaking his head. “Since you’re here, you may as well be useful and shift me some clean clothes.”
He’d get clean clothes when I got answers. “Why can’t you do it yourself?”
He could just use magic like the rest of us, but he’d probably wasted it all doing something foolish. “Because I spent the night with Caer and Cait, the morning murdering three humans, and the afternoon in the feckin’ underworld.”
That explained why he wasn’t at the portal. Still, how hard would it have been to let me know so I didn’t waste an entire day waiting like an eejit? “Busy, busy. I see you still haven’t gotten the ring.”
He leaned back to give his dark hair another scrub. “Clothes. Now.”
I’d do him one better. Not only did I shift him clean breeches and a shirt, I gave him a towel as well. Anything to get him dressed and home so I could eat.
Did he thank me? Of course not. Heaven forbid Tadhg act grateful for me wasting magic on him. “Any chance you could shift me something from the kitchens as well?”
“Eava’s upset you haven’t been home. She’s on strike.” And when Eava was on strike, no one ate. And when I didn’t eat, it made me more murderous than usual.